200-hour ‘Untraining’

"The only reason we choose to do yoga is for the pleasure — the literal pleasure — of our systems relaxing and filling with energy. It is not some struggle to enjoy a future result." — Mark Whitwell

In a world full of commodified "yoga" and the proliferation of brands and styles, how do we make sure we keep the heart in Yoga? How do we practice and teach in ways that respect and recognise each individual as the unique expression of life that they are? What are the practical tools that can help us feel our own intrinsic joy, freedom, and authority, and share this?

Investigate these questions together with a collective holding decades of experience of practice and of helping people find the right yoga for them. In the exquisite surroundings of Ubud, Bali, we will explore how Yoga is not just a physical workout, a collection of information, or a "spiritual" workout towards a future, better version of ourselves—rather, it is each person's direct participation in the nurturing force of reality, as it is appearing as you and everything else.

This training is not in any particular "style" of Yoga: it is the essential principles of body and breath, quite precise, as brought forth from the Indian tradition by the "teacher of the teachers," Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, and made uniquely relevant to us as modern people. You will therefore be able to apply these principles to any style or level of Yoga you wish to practice or teach, to make all Yoga individualized, effective, enjoyable, and safe. All bodies and backgrounds are welcome. We could call it “Advanced Yoga for Perfect Beginners.” Everyone’s practice will look different because we are all different.

You can expect to receive yoga instruction that grounds your practice in interoception, feeling the body from the inside out, yoga as whole-body prayer to Life, yoga as spiritual practice, yoga as profound internal reverie. Not yoga as exercise.

If you have questions and would like to converse with a real human who will actually be there, send a message on whatsapp to Rosalind at +64 27 715 9538.

Vision

In the company of Mark Whitwell and Rosalind Atkinson, and each other, we will:

  • Learn Krishnamacharya's basic principles of practice, restoring receptivity and sensitivity to asana (and life);

  • Demystify asana, pranayama, bandha, meditation, and chanting as practical tools for each person's participation in reality;

  • Explore how asana, pranayama, meditation, and life are a seamless process;

  • Study Yoga history and philosophy, including the Yoga Sutras — but philosophy in the deepest sense of 'loving wisdom,' rather than just as dry theory;

  • Learn the essential principle of "strength receiving" and how Yoga enables a person to feel and enjoy the union of all opposites;

  • Unravel the "social dynamic of disempowerment" that can exist in teaching situations, and learn how to care and teach as a friend and equal;

  • Connect with other genuine practitioners from around the world who want something more than a cookie-cutter teacher training;

  • Learn about Vinyasa Krama, the art of appropriate sequencing (which includes more than asana);

  • Learn how to shape Yoga to the individual, not the individual to Yoga;

  • Learn the skills through Yoga to get your life right for you, and to help others do the same;

  • Understand subtle anatomy and how breath and bandha are engaged to create correct alignment naturally;

  • Deeply relax and feel the intrinsic beauty of our own nature, as nature.

Cost: $1900

What this covers

  • Full tuition with Mark and assistant teachers

  • One-on-one discussion and personal practice help with Mark, mentors, or assistant teachers as required

  • One-on-one discussion and personal practice help as required

  • Option for ongoing mentoring with Mark and brilliant teachers at all levels of experience around the world via an invitation to the “teacher’s gatherings” weekly for the rest of 2024

  • Initiation of the heart of yoga certification process if you wish for it (this requires further teaching experience and ongoing mentoring)

  • Printed copy of comprehensive teaching manual

How to book

  • $500 deposit upon registration confirms your place.

  • All amounts in US dollars

  • Full payment due by one month before the starting day (1 June 2025).

  • Scholarships available for Balinese students, please apply.

  • 15% discount available for online studio supporting members (from at least 2024)

What is not included:

  • accommodation - there are many, many affordable places within 5 mins walk

  • breakfast and evening meal

  • airport transfers - we recommend trusted drivers however

  • any other optional extras

You will need to look after breakfast and dinner for yourself in one of the many healthy delicious options of Ubud.

Schedule (flexible)

9am – 5/6pm daily, with dinner together on the last night

Morning and afternoon spontaneous sessions of teaching, discussion, practice with a 1.5hr lunch break in the middle of the day.

Accreditation

This programme can be used for 200hr registration with the Yoga Alliance and for certification with the Heart of Yoga Alliance. Our certification process to become a fully qualified teacher requires ongoing teaching practice and mentoring, an organic and personal process that takes a different amount of time for each person.

This process is designed for those who require certification for certain workplaces, however, we teach that the main requirements for a teacher are: 

  1. That you have your own daily yoga practice

  2. That you have a good teacher

  3. That you truly care about others

This training will give you the tools to meet these sincere human requirements, in addition to the ‘official’ certification.

Prerequisites / Required Reading

Prior to the course beginning, students are required to read: 

  1. Heart of Yoga by T.K.V. Desikachar

  2. Yoga of Heart by Mark Whitwell

  3. God and Sex: Now We Get Both by Mark Whitwell with Rosalind Atkinson and Andy Raba

It’s also recommended that you read the full essay “The Yoga of Love and Sex” on this website.

These texts are indispensable for helping you discover whether this is the right training for you, based on resonance with the teachings. Please only come if you have read these texts, and done a class with Mark or watched videos online and felt a personal resonance. Teaching happens within that relationship, not as an info-dump from an authority.

FAQ

Is it the right gathering for me?

Some people who have resonated with this ‘un’training in the past:

  • those who have been practicing in the heart of yoga and transitioning to teaching;

  • those teaching yoga but feeling bored or confused or disillusioned within it;

  • those looking for a gathering that is about transformative relationships and accurate practice, not information-gathering

  • those who always sensed there is magic in yoga but haven’t been able to touch it

  • sincere devotees of diverse traditions who are looking for a whole-body practice to enact their devotion within

  • those who found Desikachar’s The Heart of Yoga or Mark’s Yoga of Heart useful as a text

  • those who have trained with students of Mark and would like to take the opportunity to “go to the source”

  • Those who live in Bali and want a training not a retreat

How is it different from most other yoga trainings?

We look back to the actual practice tradition brought through by Krishnamacharya that is mostly not available in the yoga industry. Once you taste the power of your own breath, you cannot go back.

You will not be cramming your head with endless knowledge. It is an experiential process for the whole body, allowing you to teach from the body’s intuition, not from the head’s knowledge.

We don’t presume to try and know better than each person’s natural bodily intelligence… what could know better than the force that grew you from a single cell, and presently beats your heart and moves your breath? So there is no gross adjustment, and no imposition of teacher knowledge over another person. We learn to share the breath practices through which each person can participate in the power and beauty of their own natural life. As such there is no hierarchy because each person is already the beauty of the natural world.

We usually host a very diverse group of ages, nationalities, and a pretty even balance of male and female. There is no one “type” of person drawn to study in the heart of Yoga, it tends to be those drawn to what is authentic and deep, and we come in all shapes and sizes.

Those who really need highly strict schedules and predictability may struggle. The mood is fluid and responsive to the needs of the group. Exact lunch time and evening finishing time will vary according to the flow of the day.

This (un)training is in traditional tantric hathayoga made uniquely relevant and accessible in modern life. It is not about information gathering. Yoga is in your entire embodiment or it is nowhere. We explore subtle anatomy as the movement of energy in the body, not body part anatomy from a western medical perspective. You won’t learn names of muscles, bones or detailed labels on the body from the outside (if you have a personal interest in this that’s totally fine). We will be considering how to share the precise practices that enable others to feel their own intrinsic intelligence, not trying to approximate that intelligence with mental knowledge.

Discussion will include relationships, sexuality and anything else in your life you wish to bring yogic understanding to. You can speak as much or as little as you like and be assured of being listened to with respect and love. This is a conversation, a two-way flow of information, not a broadcast or a lecture. It is not any kind of neo-tantric workshop or space. You will get the most out of it the more reading, questioning and exploration you bring with you. You are a co-creator of this course, not a consumer of it. It does not exist outside of your presence.

 

Use this form for questions or registration enquiries